(Excuse my rough map. I've improved upon it in the months since I drew it, but my scanner is packed away while I'm in the process of moving.)
The
land commonly known as the End of the World encompasses the
southernmost part of a huge supercontinental landmass. Separated by the towering mountains now known as The Gates of
Exile from the rest of the supercontinent, these lands follow the
Spine of Korthag Mountains south, ending past the planet's south
pole.
The Northern Lands include the Gates of Exile and the lands immediately to the south. The Gates are a massive chain of mountains stretching from the west coast of the continent to the east, and continuing on for thousands of miles against the southern coast of the lands of the Others. Still young, these mountains are tall, sharp, and eternally capped with snow and ice. Few navigable passes through the mountains exist, among them the Winding Stair in the west and the Eastern Pass in the east.
The Northern Lands include the Gates of Exile and the lands immediately to the south. The Gates are a massive chain of mountains stretching from the west coast of the continent to the east, and continuing on for thousands of miles against the southern coast of the lands of the Others. Still young, these mountains are tall, sharp, and eternally capped with snow and ice. Few navigable passes through the mountains exist, among them the Winding Stair in the west and the Eastern Pass in the east.
Below
the Gates of Exile, the Spine of Korthag dominates the Northern
Lands. The Spine is an older and less severe range than the Gates,
having had more eons to weather and erode. Even so, the southern
latitude of these mountains give rise to extensive glaciers in their
heights.
East
of the Spine, the land is lush and blanketed in primeval forest, and
crossed by many rivers flowing from both mountain ranges. The
greatest of these is the Serpentine, which draws its headwaters from
both the Gates and the Spine. The warm currents from the north in the
Ocean of Storms keep these lands temperate, and the easterly winds
carry the ocean's moisture to the land. West of the Spine, however,
the land is frigid and parched, a desert as desolate as it is cold.
Several
islands dot the Ocean of Storms east of the Northern Lands.
The
Northern Lands are the most populated of the End of the World. Cities
and towns dot the coastline and follow the great rivers up from the
ocean. Even the Gates of Exile are inhabited, especially near the
passes to the Lands of the Others.
The
Isthmus lies south of the Northern Lands. As the name implies, the
End of the World narrows here to little more than the Spine of
Korthag. With little room on either coast between the mountains and
the oceans, the coasts are gouged into fjords and jagged rocky isles.
The largest of these fjords is known as the Bite, and it is here that
the Isthmus is at its most narrow.
The
great city of Narkuz, the seat of power in the Stormfist Empire,
looms above the northern channel of the Bite. Several other
settlements cling to the coastline and venture into the foothills to
harvest the bounties of the sea and the riches of the mountains.
Although
not as heavily forested as the Northern Lands, the eastern side of
the Isthmus is still wet and relatively mild, while the west remains
locked in a deep freeze. The southern end of the Isthmus is crossed
by the Dusk Line, the planet's Antarctic Circle.
South
of the Isthmus, the End of the World widens again to the vast Lands
of the Long Night. So called due to their location south of the Dusk
Line, these lands offer endless day during the summer months and
endless night during the winter. Given these extremes, the weather
can get quite warm during the summer months, while the temperature
plunges in the darkness of winter. Even with the months-long
darkness, though, the winters are survivable outside of the mountains
due to the warm ocean currents that follow the eastern coast.
The
Spine of Korthag reaches its terminus in the Lands of the Long Night,
curling around the pole like a puma's tail. Enormous glaciers stretch
down these mountains toward the coast of the Endless Western Waters
and deep towards the pole. Closer to the pole itself, the glaciers
end in great trackless tundras, with the rare stand of trees in
sheltered areas. In this endless expanse of grassland and marsh lies
the pole itself, where the People have long tended a shrine. Beyond
the tundra, the land grows more lush, and trees appear again near the
coast of the Ocean of Storms.
Despite
their expanse, the Lands of the Long Night are sparsely populated,
with no large cities and few widely spread towns and villages. These
are concentrated along the coast of the Ocean of Storms, but a
scattering of villages can be found across the rest of the area.
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